1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a truck attachment to enable the truck to comply with various safety regulations by providing a headache rack mounted on the truck frame behind the cab and in front of a towed trailer in which the headache rack utilizes some of the side kit components to form a storage compartment for the other side kit components so that when a flat bed trailer having side components mounted thereon is converted to a flat bed trailer, the removed components form a headache rack and a storage compartment for the remainder of the components so that the components can be easily stored and easily reassembled onto the flat bed trailer since all of the components are supported and located in an area immediately forwardly of the flat bed trailer and immediately rearwardly of the truck cab.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Safety regulations with respect to flat bed trailers require the use of a front bulkhead either on the trailer or mounted on the truck frame forwardly of the trailer and rearwardly of the cab in order to protect the operator from forwardly shifting loads. While flat bed trailers with front bulkheads are well known and headache racks attached to the truck frame immediately rearwardly of the truck cab and forwardly of the trailer are well known, in some load-carrying situations, it is necessary to provide a side kit which includes side boards, stakes, a headboard, a tailgate and in some instances top bows or trusses interconnecting the top edges of the side walls. When it is desired to utilize the trailer as a flat bed trailer, the components of the side kit must be removed and stored. In some instances, the side boards and tailgate are stored at the front of the trailer alongside the headboard and in some instances are stored below the trailer in compartments provided for such components. Such prior structures either require that the front bulkhead be retained permanently on the trailer or that an attached headache rack be mounted on the frame of the truck rearwardly of the cab. Such arrangements introduce problems of placing the side kit components in the storage compartments under the trailer and then lifting them back onto the flat trailer when their use is desired. The following U.S. Pat. Nos. relate to this field of endeavor.
2,596,478 PA1 3,040,363 PA1 3,126,224 PA1 3,155,419 PA1 3,433,470 PA1 3,907,057